The use of polishing compositions containing waxes to protect and beautify substances such as leather, wood and metals has long been known. At one time, the application of a waxed finish by hand required the expenditure of much physical effort to apply the wax composition, followed by additional physical effort in buffing the composition to the required degree of gloss. When the wax composition was colored with a dye material, as in shoe polish, an almost certain degree of staining the hands and clothing of the person applying the polish composition came to be expected. With the advent of the modern technological age, efforts have been directed to solving these age old problems of reducing the effort and messiness resulting from the application of polish compositions.
One direction these efforts took was to soften the wax composition used. This has been accomplished by the use of emulsions of waxes and softening ingredients. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,397 for this type of composition. These softer paste waxes were easier to apply than the previously used hard waxes and, if the compositions were carefully formulated, they could be buffed to the desired degree of gloss with a minimal amount of effort. However, these soft waxes still retain one great drawback. They are unpleasant to use in that a risk of staining the hands or clothing is always present and the pasty nature of the compositions lends itself to uneven use and application.
In efforts to solve the above-described messiness problem, other efforts have been taken. With the advent of the pressurized aerosol can, efforts have been directed to produce aerosolized polish compositions that required no buffing. In general, these aerosol compositions are based on a formulation of a relatively low wax concentration dissolved in a solvent system. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,179 for this type of composition. Although easy to use, several drawbacks to aerosol polish compositions are evident. The solvent nature of the polish composition, although requiring no buffing, evidences a glass-like appearance which is unacceptable to the consumer, especially for leather polishes. Also the aerosols are unwieldy to use in that exact spray patterns are hard to predict and messiness easily results. When using dye containing leather polishes, this can lead to staining of the area surrounding the field of use.
Attempts to overcome these shortcomings have developed on devising a neat, easy to apply composition which may be provided with a buffed finish with a minimal amount of effort. One method was to supply the familiar dauber-in-a-bottle dispenser. This has proven unacceptable to the consumer in that both hands are required to properly effectuate its use and the more acceptable looking buffable compositions, emulsions in nature, tended to become viscous or separate in the bottle. This has forced the use of solvent compositions which provide the unacceptable glassy finish. It has become evident that the composition most desirable under present conditions would use a functional applicator with a wax emulsion type formulation. By a functional applicator is meant one that is usable with one hand and provides means for dispensing as well as spreading the polish composition. For example, this may be in the form of a flexible, rigid or pressurized container with the orifice from which the polish composition exists covered by a spreading means, such as felt or sponge applicator.
It would be expected that the wax emulsion type compositions, which require a light, almost effortless, buffing to provide the more acceptable buffed finish, would be utilized. However, this has not been the case. The more desirable wax emulsion type polish compositions tend to change viscosity and become thick or watery upon the passage of time, and, therefore, are not useable in a functional type container. This increase in viscosity also leads to compositions which tend to become more and more uneven in application and require increasing amounts of effort to provide the required buffed finish.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide wax emulsion polish compositions which are stabilized against adverse changes in viscosity and are, therefore, particularly useful in functional type polish applicators. Other objects will appear more fully hereinafter.
It has surprisingly been found that a multicomponent wax emulsion type composition is stabilized against adverse changes in viscosity by the inclusion in the composition of from about 0.1% to about 1.0%, by weight, of a stabilizer selected from the group consisting of compounds having the formula EQU R--X--O--(C.sub.2 H.sub.4 O).sub.n --H
wherein R is an aliphatic group (fatty acid residue) containing from about 9 to about 18 carbon atoms, X is selected from the group consisting of phenylene, carbonyl and a carbon to oxygen bond and n is a whole number from about 12 to about 50. The most efficacious activity has been discovered to exist when the viscosity stabilizer is present, by weight, from about 0.4% to about 0.8% of the final composition.
In particular, substances which are useful as viscosity stabilizers are exemplified by substances such as Igepal CO 630, a trademark of General Aniline and Film Corporation for a condensation product of nonylphenol with nine moles of ethylene oxide, Arosurf HFS-846, a trademark of Archer Daniels Midland Co. for a condensation product of stearic acid with 40 moles of ethylene oxide, Arosurf HFS-849, a trademark of Archer Daniels Midland Co. for a condensation product of stearic acid with 50 moles of ethylene oxide, Ethosperse LA-12, a trademark of Glyco Chemicals, Inc. for a condensation product of lauryl alcohol with 12 moles of ethylene oxide and Lipal 20-OA, a trademark of Drew Chemical Corporation for a condensation product of oleyl alcohol with 20 moles of ethylene oxide.
When the wax emulsion is a shoe polish composition, a typical range, by weight, of ingredients would be:
Wax from about 1.0% to about 10.0% Silicones from about 0.0% to about 1.0% Emulsifier from about 0.5% to about 2.0% Morpholine from about 0.5% to about 3.0% Viscosity regulator from about 0.1% to about 1.0% Triethanolamine from about 0.1% to about 1.0% Dye from about 0.0% to about 5.0% Stabilizer from about 0.1% to about 1.0% Water from about 20.0% to about 95.0%
In the above formulation, the waxes are exemplified by the commonly used waxes such as microcrystalline waxes, montanic acid ester waxes, montan wax, Fisher-Tropsch waxes, ozokerite waxes, polyethylene waxes and natural waxes such as beeswax, oricury, candelilla and bayberry and the mixtures of waxes. The silicones are preferably of the dimethylpolysiloxane type of the general formula: EQU (CH.sub.3).sub.3 Si--O--[(CH.sub.3).sub.2 Si--O--].sub.x --Si(CH.sub.3).sub.3
where the viscosity of the silicone increases with increasing value of x. The silicones are added to enhance the buffability of the dried polish film. Particularly of use in this application are silicones with a viscosity in the range of about 200-500 centistokes at 25.degree.C. The emulsifiers are used to produce the wax emulsion and are exemplified by the alkali (Na, Li, K) and amine salts of high molecular weight fatty acids, (C.sub.10 -C.sub.22) such as oleic, stearic, palmitic, myristic and the like. The morpholine is included with the fatty acids in the composition to form and stabilize an emulsion system. The viscosity regulators are added to adjust the viscosity of the emulsion to the desired degree. Exemplary of these viscosity regulators are carboxyvinyl polymers. The carboxy vinyl polymer is substantially insoluble in water and is the acid form of a polymer prepared as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,798,053, granted July 2, 1957, selectively utilizing from about 0.75 to 2 percent by weight of polyalkenyl polyether, for example, polyallyl sucrose as the crosslinking material, the remainder being essentially acrylic acid or its equivalent and the polymerization being carried out in a hydrocarbon diluent with a free radical catalyst, for example, benzoyl peroxide. The carboxyl vinyl polymers employed in this invention are more specifically described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,909,462, of particular interest being the preparation produced in acid form. A particularly effective embodiment of the high molecular weight carboxyl vinyl polymer is a water-soluble polymer of acrylic acid crosslinked with 1% of a polyallyl ether of sucrose having an average of about 5.8 allyl groups for each molecule of sucrose (Carbopol 934, formerly known as "Good-rite K-934").
Triethanolamine is added to stabilize and aid in cleaning by the emulsion. The dyes are optionally included when a colored polish is desired and are selected from the commonly used oil soluble shoe dyes such as D & C Brown 1, Sudan Dark Brown BG and Oil Black. Additional ingredients such as perfumes and preservatives are added when their well-known effects are desired.
Of particular interest in this invention are wax emulsion shoe polish compositions of the present invention having the formula:
Wax from about 2.0% to about 7.0% Silicones from about 0.1% to about 0.7% Emulsifier from about 0.7% to about 1.5% Morpholine from about 0.95% to about 2.0% Viscosity Regulator from about 0.2% to about 0.6% Triethanolamine from about 0.2% to about 0.6% Dye from about 0.0% to about 5.0% Stabilizer from about 0.4% to about 0.8% Water from about 20.0% to about 95.0%
The stabilized polish compositions are prepared by any of the methods well known to those skilled in the art. One method of particular utility is to form an emulsion of the wax, dye, stabilizer, emulsifying agent and a portion of the water which is then added to the thickened balance of the water after which the remaining ingredients are added. Other methods known in the art would be useful.
The following examples are exemplary of the present invention.